


For The Sake of Auld Lang Syne

by Lillielle



Series: A Breath of Romance, A Twist of Despair [8]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Cheating, F/M, For The Sake of Auld Lang Syne, Infidelity, Sweet Moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 07:22:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillielle/pseuds/Lillielle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Disclaimer: I own nothing.</p><p>What's happened to Hermione's relationship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	For The Sake of Auld Lang Syne

She didn't know when it all started to go haywire. They got married so early, right after Hogwarts. Perhaps that was the problem. He trotted off to Auror training and she hung up her aspirations, newlywed and flushed with young love. So determined to succeed.

He started having later and later nights. Sometimes he didn't come home at all. At first, Hermione thought nothing of it. She knew, from Harry's reports, that Auror training was difficult, and that Ron was having trouble with some of the more intricate defenses.

Then he came home, so stereotypical, with a smudge of lipstick on his collar. And it wasn't hers. Hermione knew it for a fact, because she never wore makeup. And she confronted him about it, and he brushed it off, explaining it as a smudge that probably rubbed off from a tactical exercise and a colleague.

"Like I would ever find someone else," he scoffed, kissing the corner of her mouth. "You're the only girl for me, Mione," he assured her, caressing her cheek, and for a while, she believed him.

But the nights he didn't come home increased, and soon, he didn't even bother to explain. When she found another girl's underwear in the pocket of his robes while she was gathering up the washing (she refused to use house elves, for obvious reasons), she just sat there on the edge of their bed, staring blankly into space. She didn't cry. She thought she would, when this moment happened, but her eyes stayed dry and burning.

She didn't confront him that time.

And slowly but surely, their marriage crumbled. Until now, only two years in, on the eve of their anniversary, Hermione thought about asking him for a divorce.

Over the last year, Ron had spent more time out of their marriage bed than in it. Even now, Hermione sat up by herself, sipping yet another glass of wine and sprawling over half the sofa. Ron was "working late" again.

"I need music," she told herself, flicking her wand in a tipsy squiggle at the record player. It was an antique affectation she'd picked up at a Muggle yard sale, and her father-in-law had assisted her in a few modifications.

_For the sake of auld lang syne, take me in your arms again while my heart pretends we're the same old friends and forgets for a while it's pain..._

The music drifted through the living room, and Hermione hiccuped, setting her glass a little harder than she should on the coffee table as she stood up.

The clock chimed midnight, and she laughed to herself, twirling on the spot.

"Two years," she whispered to herself, slightly slurred. "And what a happy wife I am..."

_Won't you kiss me and I'll remember, once again for a moment, you're mine, all mine!_

Eyes closed, she swayed in place, remembering a happier time, a better time. Remembering their wedding, when Ron had waltzed her around the reception hall, clumsy yet beautiful, her dress sweeping the floor, his eyes burning into hers with lovestruck intensity.

"I love you, I need you, please say you'll be mine, for the sake of auld lang syne," she sang along with the music, bringing her hands up as if to clasp her imaginary partner's.

And they struck warm flesh, and her eyes flew open, and her husband stood there, the saddest smile on his face she'd ever seen.

"Happy anniversary, Mione," he whispered, and kissed her.


End file.
